Manufacturing method for a hanging structure of a hands-free mount

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing method for a hanging structure of a hands-free mount is disclosed. The hands-free mount includes a mount body and a hanging arm. The mount body is formed by a bottom shell and a top shell coupled mutually. The hanging arm includes a metal substrate and inner and outer coatings wrapping the metal substrate. The outer coating has a chamfered end located outside the bottom shell and inclined at an angle. The manufacturing method for the hanging structure of the hands-free mount uses an over-molding process to fully wrap the stainless steel core, so as to endow the hanging structure with good appearance and soft touch and prevent the product from rusting. Using the hanging structure as the hanging arm, the hands-free mount has improved firmness, appearance and touch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a hands-free mount and a manufacturingmethod for a hanging structure thereof. More particularly, thehands-free mount is a bracket for conveniently securing a hands-freedevice onto a surface in a vehicle, and the manufacturing method isuseful to endow the hanging structure of the hands-free mount withimproved firmness, appearance and touch.

2. Description of Related Art

One conventional hands-free mount 90, as depicted in FIG. 1, includes amount body 91 for holding a portable device, such as a mobile phone anda hook 92 for positioning the mount body 91 with respect to a surface ina vehicle. The hook 92 is of a U-like shape integrally composed of afixed segment 921, a bent segment 922 and an expandable segment 923. Thefixed segment 921 is fixed to a rear surface (outer side) 911 of themount body 91, and the expandable segment 923 can expand under a pullingforce for gripping any suitable article, thereby fixing the hands-freemount 90 in position.

Conventionally, the hook 92 of the hands-free mount 90 is made of metalbecause metal provides malleability and corrosion resistance, suchdesirable characteristics that a device needs. However, a metal hook isvisually cold, stiff and toneless, and fails to provide a soft andcomfortable sense of touch. In addition, although the existing hook 92is capable of fixing the hands-free mount 90 to external articles, somedefects thereof have been observed. Particularly, when the expandablesegment 923 is pulled to expand, the resulting stress first acts on thebent segment 922 before conveyed to the fixed segment 921. Consequently,the bent segment 922 tends to break under the focused stress, making thefixed segment 921 separate from the rear surface 911 of the mount body91, which causes the whole hands-free mount 90 to become unusable.Furthermore, as known, the gripping capacity of a hook is subject to itsradian. Since the bent segment 922 of the hands-free mount 90 is limitedin terms of radian, its operation is relatively limited andinconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of the present invention is to provide a hands-free mountfeaturing for excellent firmness and appearance.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a manufacturingmethod for a hanging structure of a hands-free mount, wherein the methoduses an over-molding process to fully wrap a stainless steel core. Inthe over-molding process, following a first molding step for positioningthe stainless steel core with polypropylene resin, a second molding stepis performed to inject thermoplastic elastomer with the presence ofventing inserts for ensuring good venting. Thereby, the closecombination between PP and TPE can perfectly wrap the stainless steelcore, so as to endow the hanging structure of the hands-free mount withgood appearance and soft touch and prevent the product from rusting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives andadvantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the followingdetailed description of illustrative embodiments when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of a conventional hands-free mount;

FIG. 2 is a lateral cross-sectional view of a hands-free mount accordingto the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cut-away, perspective cross-sectional view of the hands-freemount according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing the hands-free mount of thepresent invention posed inclined;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing operation of the hands-free mountof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing partially showing the hands-free mount ofthe present invention in operation;

FIG. 7A to 7C illustrate steps in an over-molding process for making ahanging structure of a hands-free mount as disclosed herein;

FIGS. 8 A to 8C depict products of the steps shown in FIG. 7A through7C, respectively; and

FIG. 9 is an applied view of the hanging structure that is assembled tothe hands-free mount.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 7A to 9, a manufacturing method for a hangingstructure of a hands-free mount is illustrated according to oneembodiment of the present invention. As shown, the manufacturing methodfor making the hanging structure comprises: an inserting step 1, apositioning step 2 and a wrapping step 3. Therein, the inserting step 1involves placing a to-be-wrapped stainless steel core 4 into a formingmold 5. The to-be-wrapped stainless steel core 4 is made of SUS 301 andpreformed with a plurality of windows 40. Also placed into the formingmold 5 are venting inserts (not shown). The venting inserts arepositioned near a rear end of the to-be-wrapped stainless steel core 4.The forming mold 5 is such closed that the windows 40 are exposedoutside so that the windows 40 can act as positioning points during themanufacturing method, and can later act as structure by which thehanging structure is fixed to the hands-free mount. The positioning step2 injects polypropylene resin (hereinafter referred to as PP) as asupport, and the to-be-wrapped stainless steel core 4 can later act asan ejector for easy demolding. The highly heated mold 5 in this steptightly attaches the injected PP at a demolding position of theto-be-wrapped stainless steel core 4 The wrapping step 3, as a secondmolding step, involves injects thermoplastic elastomeric (hereinafterreferred to as TPE) to fully wrap the to-be-wrapped stainless steel core4 with the injected TPE. In this step, since the venting inserts ensuregood venting, the undesired undershot can be prevented. The foregoingover-molding process thus provides good positioning, wrapping andventing performance, thereby ensuring close combination between the PPand TPE parts that fully wraps the to-be-wrapped stainless steel core,so as to endow the hanging structure of the hands-free mount with goodappearance and soft touch and prevent the product from rusting.

Referring to FIGS. 8A to 8C, the present invention uses the firstmolding step to inject and tightly attach PP to the to-be-wrappedstainless steel core 4 for the purpose of positioning, and then uses thesecond molding step where good venting is provided to fully wrap theto-be-wrapped stainless steel core 4 with TPE, so the resulting producthas good appearance and soft touch and is prevented from rusting. Nowreferring to FIG. 9, the stainless steel core 4 such wrapped isassembled to a hands-free mount 10 through its plural windows 40. Asshown, the fully wrapped stainless steel core 4 acts as the hangingstructure of the hands-free mount 10. The hanging structure so providedhas excellent gripping ability, and in virtue of the coat formed by PPand TPE, presents soft appearance and soft touch. Meanwhile, as shown inFIG. 9, the underlying stainless steel core allows the hanging structureto deform from A1 to A5, enabling the hands-free mount 10 to griparticles with thickness of a larger range.

Please refer to FIGS. 2 to 4 as well. The hands-free mount of thepresent invention comprises a mount body 10 and a hanging arm 30 (i.e.the hanging structure made from the foregoing inventive manufacturingmethod). The mount body 10 has a bottom shell 11 and a top shell 12. Apair of retaining plates 13 is formed inside and along one edge of thebottom shell 11 to define therebetween a positioning space 130. In thepositioning space 130, a plurality of threaded holes 14 are provided.The positioning space 130 receives a metal positioning member M that iscomposed of a first positioning piece 15 located lower and a secondpositioning piece 16 located higher. The first positioning piece 15 andthe second positioning piece 16 are bored so that screws 20 can passtherethrough and get coupled with the threaded holes 14 thereunder. Thebottom shell 11 at its side near the metal positioning member M isformed with a slot 17 and a recess 171, such that the recess 171 isbelow the metal positioning member M and does not penetrated through thebottom shell 11. Beyond the positioning space 130, two third positioningpieces 18 made of metal are installed in the bottom shell 11. The thirdpositioning pieces 18 have a height (thickness) approximately equal tothat of the first positioning piece 15. In addition, the bottom shell 11has a cover 19 that extends along its edge and is adjacent to the thirdpositioning piece 18. The bottom shell 11 is also formed with aplurality of positioning holes 111 for allowing the top shell 12 tocouple therewith.

The hanging arm 30 is a curved body that includes a metal substrate 33on which a plastic inner coating 31 and a plastic outer coating 32 aremade (i.e. the hanging structure made from the foregoing inventivemanufacturing method). The metal substrate 33 has its front end insertedinto the slot 17 and retained in the bottom shell 11 so that the frontend of the metal substrate 33 is firmly positioned between the first andsecond positioning pieces 15, 16 of the metal positioning member M andthe third positioning piece 18. The front end of the inner coating 31 isinserted into the recess 171 and thereby fixed to the bottom shell 11.The front end of the outer coating 32 is formed as a chamfered end 321.The chamfered end 321 stays outside the bottom 110 of the bottom shell11 and is inclined at an angle of θ (as shown in FIG. 6). In preferredembodiments of the present invention, the chamfered end 321 does notnormally contact the bottom 110.

Also seeing FIGS. 5 and 6, in use, the hanging arm 30 receives a pullingforce A1 for expanding it (as shown in FIG. 5). The pulling force A1applies a force A2 to the front end of the metal substrate 33 (as shownin FIG. 6). In response, the first positioning piece 15 generates afirst counterforce A3 (as shown in FIG. 6) to resist it. When thecounterforce A3 from the first positioning piece 15 becomes greater thanthe force A2 acting on the metal substrate 33, a change in terms ofangle happens, and then the second positioning piece 16 generates acounterforce A4 (as shown in FIG. 6). Afterward, continuous applicationof the pulling force A1 can lead to a pulling force A5 (as shown in FIG.5).

Referring to FIG. 5, when the minimum pulling force A1 is applied, theminimum interaction distance of the hanging arm 30 is P1. When thepulling force increases from A1 to A5, the maximum interaction distanceof the hanging arm 30 is P2. A difference between P2 and P1 is L, whichis the maximum bearable thickness. With the approach to the maximumbearable thickness L, the inclined angle θ of the chamfered end 321 ofthe outer coating 32 becomes closer to 0, where the chamfered end 321closely contact the bottom of the bottom shell 11. In other words, themaximum bearable thickness L is adjustable by changing the angle θ.

Thereby, the disclosed hanging arm 30 can have improved flexibilitybefore its material has stress-activated deformation, thereby improvingits gripping capability. Hence, by properly designing the angle θ, thedesired maximum bearable thickness L can be achieved. Furthermore, thehanging arm 30 with the disclosed configuration has improved structuralfirmness in addition more preferable appearance and touch.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing method for a hanging structure ofa hands-free mount, the method including: an inserting step, wherein ato-be-wrapped stainless steel core that is preformed with a plurality ofwindows is placed into a forming mold together with venting inserts, andthe forming mold is closed such that the windows are exposed outside theforming mold; a positioning step, wherein polypropylene resin isinjected to the forming mold so that the highly heated forming moldtightly makes the injected PP tightly attach to the to-be-wrappedstainless steel core; and a wrapping step, wherein thermoplasticelastomer is injected to fully wrap the to-be-wrapped stainless steelcore while the venting insert ensures god venting so as to preventundershot, wherein the manufacturing method uses an over-molding processcomposed by the positioning step and the wrapping step to make theto-be-wrapped stainless steel core fully wrapped.
 2. The manufacturingmethod of claim 1, wherein the stainless steel core is made of SUS 301.3. The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the venting inserts arepositioned near a rear end of the to-be-wrapped stainless steel core. 4.The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the PP tightly attaches tothe to-be-wrapped stainless steel core at a demolding position of theto-be-wrapped stainless steel core.